Primary Shakeup In NC's 9th Congressional District

File photo of Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), right, smiling at Vice President Mike Pence, left, after a tax policy event in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, April 20, 2018. Pittenger lost a close primary race to Republican Mark Harris.

Harris had to overcome Pittenger's strength in the more populous precincts of Mecklenburg and Cumberland counties. Harris prevailed with 48.5 percent of the vote.

His reward will be a general election contest against Iraq War veteran and Harvard graduate Dan McCready. Democrats have indicated they will target the 9th District, which they see as flippable.

Harris, a former president of the Baptist State Convention in North Carolina, now must pivot toward a general election campaign against McCready, who won Tuesday's Democratic nomination.

McCready had $1.2 million in unspent campaign donations in mid-April and was already eyeing the fall vote in the 9th District, which fuses affluent parts of Charlotte and its suburbs with poor, rural counties along the South Carolina border to the edge of Fort Bragg.

Another district Democrats believe could be swept up in a blue wave is the 13th, where Democrat Kathy Manning handily beat Adam Coker.

In another closely watched congressional race, Democrat Linda Coleman, a former state representative and two-time candidate for lieutenant governor, won a three-way primary. Coleman will face incumbent George Holding, who won the Republican primary with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Democrat David Price easily won his primary and will likely return to Congress from the 4th district. He will have a general election challenger in Libertarian Barbara Howe, who won a two-way primary.

Third District Congressman Walter Jones won his Republican primary against two challengers. Jones will run unopposed this fall for what is expected to be his final term.

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Mark Harris has become a familiar name on the Republican ballot in North Carolina. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing to Thom Tillis. Two years ago, he lost to Robert Pittenger in the primary race for the 9th district in Congress by just 134 votes.

This year, Harris is back for another shot at Pittenger. Both say the circumstances are different and in their favor for next week’s primary.

The 2018 midterm election is shaping up to be one of the most important in recent memory, and much of what happens in November will be determined tomorrow in primary elections around the state. There are no statewide races on the ballot, but there are primary challenges in almost every Congressional district, Democrats running for every legislative seat in the state, and many contentious local races for positions like sheriff and county attorney.